


may thy slumber be blessed

by Infinity456



Series: beginning [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony is Peter's biological dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 19:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14677629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infinity456/pseuds/Infinity456
Summary: Five months after defeating Thanos and bringing everyone back, Tony is still having nightmares.





	may thy slumber be blessed

**Author's Note:**

> MAJOR INFINITY WAR SPOILERS HERE
> 
> I'm currently in the middle of writing Peter's coming out fic for the Beginning series, this takes place after that one. I just felt the need to take a break from the main story and write this instalment after seeing Infinity War for the third time this past weekend, oops. 
> 
> Beta'd by All_Terrain_Nerd who was super helpful! :)
> 
> Title comes from the lullaby Cradle Song - Johannes Brahms

_“Dad? I don’t feel so good…” Peter says, stumbling as he walks towards him._

_“You’re alright.” Tony replies, not truly believing it, but hoping. Tony’s never prayed, doesn’t believe in God, but he’ll drop to his knees right now if it means Peter will just be alright._

_“I-I don’t know what’s happening, Dad please.” Peter falls into his arms and Tony holds him as tight as he can._ Not him, please just not him. _“I don’t want to go, Dad please, please help me, I don’t want to go.” Peter whimpers, falling onto his back. Tony falls with him, keeping Peter close._

_“I’m sorry," are Peter’s last words, whispered right before his son’s face disintegrates before Tony’s eyes._

Tony wakes abruptly, choking on air as he gasps for breath. His face is wet and he tries to hold down the sob but it comes anyway and then he can’t seem to stop. A warm hand finds the center of his back, soothing. He looks over and Pepper’s awake. He tries to apologize for waking her but all that comes out is another wet sob. Pepper doesn’t say anything, instead pulls him into her arms as he rides out the panic attack. His heart is racing so fast it feels like any moment it may spring free if he doesn’t get to Peter right now, _now_. He knows that he’s breathing. He can feel his chest rising and falling but it doesn’t _feel_ like he’s breathing, doesn’t feel like he’s getting any air and he can’t breathe, he can't breath, he can’t _breathe._

He’s not sure how long it lasts; the exhaustion plaguing his muscles and the overload of adrenaline coursing through his veins gives him contrasting ideas. His chest is tight and aching and he feels as though he’s about to get the mother of all headaches. When he looks at the bedside table the clock reads 3:52am, he wonders how long they’ve been up. Pepper is still rubbing his back as his breathing returns to normal. She’s murmuring quietly to him, he hadn’t noticed it before, but now that he has, it’s nice. She feels safe. Finally, reluctantly, Tony parts from her, rubbing his eyes.

“Peter again?” Pepper asks and Tony nods, still shaking. She knows everything that happened. He’d broken down the moment he got back to Earth and discovered she was still there. She had been his rock as he and the others fought to reverse the damage Thanos had done. “Go,” she says, pressing a kiss to his temple and waving her hand toward the door.

Tony does, hastily slipping on a pair of pants as he does, it’s become a sort of ritual these past few months. It’s not every night that he has the nightmare, it’s certainly less frequent now, but there’s only one way he’s getting back to sleep tonight.

He keeps the lights off as he navigates the hallways of the tower, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dark. As he approaches his destination he stops and carefully rests his hand on the doorknob.

“FRIDAY?” Tony prompts.

“Yes, boss?”

“Peter?” Tony asks, and holds his breath even though he knows the answer.

“Based on my readings he is currently in REM sleep, boss.” FRIDAY informs him, and Tony releases the breath.

“Thank you, FRIDAY.” Tony says, and the AI doesn’t respond, knows a response is not expected. He imagines this has become ritual for her as well.

With that done, Tony carefully turns the doorknob and silently opens the door. The first time this happened, it had taken much longer for Pepper to console him when he’d woken, to convince him they’d won, that Thanos was gone and everyone – _Peter_ – was back. Even then, he’d needed to go see for himself, and, despite the memories, despite Pepper’s assurances, he’d been _so_ sure that all he’d find in Peter’s bed was a pile of ash, that somehow Thanos had come back and managed to take the one person he cared about most. But when he’d walked into Peter’s room all he’d found was Peter sleeping peacefully.

He makes his way to Peter’s bedside and the kid is sound asleep, completely unaware of Tony’s presence. He’s sprawled out on his back, blanket kicked off and sheets tangled in his legs, right arm flung above his head, hand almost touching the headboard while his left hand rests beside his cheek, face turned to the side, towards Tony. Tony feels a smile stretch his lips because he can see the rise and fall of Peter’s chest.

Very carefully, Tony sits on the edge of Peter’s bed and reaches out to carefully rest his hand on the side of Peter’s neck, using his middle and index finger to lightly press and feel for Peter’s pulse while his thumb gently strokes along his warm cheek. Each beat of Peter’s heart is a reminder, a reassurance that Peter is alive, that they won, and that Peter will get to live a long and healthy life. With each pulse against his fingers, each reminder, Tony feels his own heartrate slow until it’s back to normal and he can finally relax. Pulling his hand away from Peter’s neck, Tony carefully leans forward to place a light kiss to Peter’s temple before he slowly stands, careful not to shake the bed as he moves to leave.

Tony doesn’t know what he’d do if May hadn’t agreed to move into the tower after Thanos was defeated and everyone had come back. He’d probably have gone down to his workshop, unable to sleep until the next day when he could see Peter and confirm with his own eyes that Peter was alive. Thankfully he doesn’t need to do that, because Peter is just down the hall. Tony enters his bedroom and Pepper is still awake, the lamp is on and she has a book in her hand. Tony closes the door and Pepper looks up at him with a smile, marking her spot before closing the book and setting it down.

“Better?” she asks, reaching out for him.

“Yeah, a lot.” Tony answers, joining her and pulling her to his chest.

“Three weeks, I think that’s a record.” She informs him, rubbing his chest as she looks up at him with a smile.

Tony lets out a humorless laugh before responding. “Yeah well, we can flip the counter back to zero now,” he says, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Sh, none of that. It’s only been five months; these things take time, and I’m here; you don’t have to do it alone,” she tells him – just like she does every time this happens – before leaning up to press a kiss to his lips.

_God he loves this woman._

So he tells her, and she smiles before saying it back, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I’m going back to sleep. You should, too.” She tells him, one last peck placed onto his shoulder as she settles in.

“I will.”

And he does.


End file.
